Fresh indictments filed against Johnston, three others

The Bribery Commission yesterday filed fresh indictment against three accused including former Minister Johnston Fernando in connection with the alleged use of 153 Sathosa employees for political activities.

On January 28, the Colombo Chief Magistrate ordered that the suspects be released from the case subject to re-file case, due to the Bribery Commission informed Court that the case had been filed without the written consent of the three Commissioners of the Bribery Commission and that it was not possible to proceed with the case.

Accordingly, the Bribery Commission yesterday re-filed a case with a fresh indictment against former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others.

The case was filed against former Minister Johnston Fernando, former CWE (Lak Sathosa) Chairman Eraj Fernando and former Minister’s Private Secretary Raj Mohideen Mohammad Sakeer for allegedly causing an Rs.8.4 million unlawful loss to the Government by employing the employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) for election work during the period 2012.

The Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed these corruption cases against three accused under Section 70 of the Bribery Act on four charges.